At PackPlus 2009 in New Delhi, India, from July 8-11, Technical Absorbents Ltd (TAL) will promote its superabsorbent fibre (SAF) technology to the country’s evolving food industry.
“Fresh food, including meat, fish, poultry, fruits and dairy products are often scrutinised by North American and European consumers,” explained TAL Business Development Manager Dave Hill. “This scenario is commonplace in the western world where demand is high for foods of the highest quality.
“With pre-packaged foods becoming extremely popular, one of the most important considerations for the food manufacturer is how best to preserve the original quality of the product to achieve an optimum shelf-life. Effectively managing free exudates with a super absorbent food pad is one solution.”
In Asian markets there is limited use of such food packaging materials, principally because of the cultural differences in how food, particularly meat, is sold to the consumer. However, this situation is changing through a combination of increasing legislative requirements on food safety, together with the desirability of pre-packaged foods.
“Retail formats are going through many changes,” said Mr Hill. “Modern retailing in the form of westernised supermarkets and hypermarkets will have a huge impact on the sale of pre-packaged foods and the future market demand for absorbent food packaging materials.
“We already have a presence in India through our BCH, which is a vital resource to TAL. The team has excellent links with both the global and Indian technical textile industries and has already been successful in introducing TAL to various companies, entrepreneurs, students, academicians and other industry stakeholders. PackPlus will now allow TAL to start creating an understanding of the benefits of super absorbents to the county’s food industry and allow it to meet with companies throughout the supply chain under one roof.”
One of the main applications for TAL’s superabsorbent technology is SAF-based nonwoven food pads. As the company already occupies more than 50% of the EU super absorbent market in the pre-packaged food sector, it is now focusing on developing its innovative technology in Asia.
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